System for procedural generation of braid representations in a computer image generation system

1. A computer-implemented method for procedurally simulating braided strands of fibers, the computer-implemented method comprising:

under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions:

obtaining a set of parameters of the braided strands of the fibers, the set of parameters indicating a braid spine;

generating, based at least in part on the set of parameters, a set of interlacing strand spines that follow the braid spine within a tolerance according to the set of parameters;

computing a set of first geometric structures corresponding to the set of interlacing strand spines;

determining a set of flyaway tubes comprising a set of second geometric structures surrounding the set of first geometric structures; and

generating flyaway fibers based on the set of flyaway tubes.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the set of parameters include a path of the braid spine, a quantity of strands, and a thickness.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the set of parameters include at least one of a size of a knot of the braided strands of the fibers, a flyaway probability for the flyaway fibers of the fibers along the braided strands of the fibers, or a knot tightness of the braided strands of the fibers.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein computing the set of first geometric structures comprises expanding a tube located along each strand spine of the set of interlacing strand spines until the tube intersects with another tube of a set of tubes associated with the set of interlacing strand spines and/or the tube reaches a tube thickness value specified in the set of parameters.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising assigning a set of fiber positions for the fibers within each geometric structure of the set of first geometric structures.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein each fiber of the fibers represents a hair within a hair braid corresponding to the braided strands of the fibers.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the flyaway fibers comprises:

assigning an additional set of fibers positions outside the set of first geometric structures but positioned relative to the set of second geometric structures.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the flyaway fibers is performed according to a stochastic scheme.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the set of interlacing strand spines comprises three or more interlacing strand spines.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a graphics output using a computed set of geometric structures corresponding to the set of interlacing strand spines.

11. A computer system for procedurally simulating braided strands of fibers, the computer system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a computer-readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, causes the computer system to perform the method of claim 1 .

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, causes the computer system to carry out the method of claim 1 .

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying instructions, which when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, causes the computer system to carry out the method of claim 1 .

14. A non-transitory carrier medium carrying image data that includes pixel information generated according to the method of claim 1 .